After so much debate, hand-wringing and discussion, this is where Team Canada needed to be.

The only place it could be.

Playing for hockey gold for the second straight Olympic Games.

Playing for gold on the big ice, with a game foreign to North Americans, and a style adopted just for this occasion: With Team Canada guaranteed a medal for the first time away from home since National Hockey League players were free to play for their countries.

For a day, anyhow, Canada can exhale.

“This was unbelievable,” said Shea Weber, who has been central to the remarkable Team Canada defence. “This game was unbelievable.”

It was hold-your-breath tense, played at breathtaking speed: One play changed the night for Team Canada, the difference in a 1-0 win over Team USA.

“Our team really came together tonight,” Weber said. “I haven’t seen many games like this, been involved in many. This kind of speed, with this kind of talent. If I wasn’t playing, I’d love to watch this.”

From the bench, in spite of the tension, he enjoyed the view.

The best offensive players in the world could muster just one goal between them in a game that American coach Dan Bylsma thought should have been the gold-medal contest.

The sad part was, somebody had to lose here. And now the Americans, with Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk, with sadness in their eyes, must play Finland on Saturday for the bronze medal. They have no time to look back. They have no time to mourn a defeat that will stay with them for years.

“We played the U.S. twice in Vancouver four years ago,” said Mike Babcock, the Canadian coach. “They beat us once. We beat them once in overtime. Now we beat them 1-0 today. That tells you how tight this is.”

“These,” said Bylsma, making a declaration, “are the two best hockey countries in the world.”

Which Babcock reiterated, although he has a certain affinity for Swedish players, having coached so many over the years with the Detroit Red Wings.

“You have two great teams out there today, unbelievable talent, and the score is 1-0.”

It meant there was almost no room for error. It meant Team Canada had to be tight defensively as they’ve never been before. The speed was extreme.

“There were a lot of scoring chances,” said Babcock. “The goalies are that good. The game is tight. This is the part I always tell Canadians and they don’t believe me. It’s hard to win here. This is a hard game. All these teams are good. This is a hard medal to win. And we’re just thrilled to have the opportunity (to play for gold).

“We were fortunate today. You feel fortunate when you win that kind of game.”

This was a victory for Babcock, a victory for the general manager, Steve Yzerman, and his staff, a victory for Canadian players who put their regular style of game on hold so they could adapt to what the coach was asking of them.

All Babcock wanted when the tournament began was for Team Canada to get better each game at the Olympics. Now, for the first time, they go to the gold-medal game against another unbeaten team, Sweden.

This has never happened before at the Olympics.

One team will end the tournament undefeated and with a gold medal well-earned.

The test against the high-scoring Americans was a jump up in pace both stylistically and talent-wise from where they’d been before.

If it was a test, they passed glowingly.

And, now, to do it one more time.

The offence for Canada came from more places than it had in any game against credible opposition, but the only goal was scored when the unlikely Jay Bouwmeester set up the unlikely Jamie Benn. And the untested Carey Price, he of so much playoff failure early in his career, was solid, clean and often spectacular in goal.

“I’ve been so impressed with Price,” said Benn, who has impressed those not that familiar with his game.

He wasn’t invited to the training camp last summer, where in ball-hockey gear Babcock put in his defensive game plan, the plan that has gotten him to the gold-medal game.

Benn is fortunate to play for Lindy Ruff, who is one of Babcock’s assistants on Team Canada, and for general manager Jim Nill, who is close friends with both Babcock and Yzerman from his days with the Red Wings. And between Ruff and Nill, they made certain there would be a place for Benn on Team Canada.

There is little doubt he has been one of the more impressive Canadian forwards. He has two goals. Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Corey Perry, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash, Patrice Bergeron, Chris Kunitz and Matt Duchene have combined for none.

But measuring any Canadian forward statistically Friday would be inaccurate. Crosby, the captain, the NHL’s leading scorer, was superb in victory. If he’s played a better game without scoring a point, I haven’t seen it.

He was intense from the drop of the puck. He played the game with a purpose he has rarely shown. He set the tempo right from the beginning. There would be no letting up. He was the captain.

In truth, this is a different Team Canada than we’ve ever known before. More mature. More together. More able to check egos at the door. More of an understanding of what they have to do to be successful.

You could see the maturity of this team with five minutes to play. It was a stark contract to the Canada-USA women’s game from the night before. There would be no comeback from the U.S.

Systematically, they played the clock, allowed nothing, placed the puck in smart situations, ran down one minute, then another and another, until there was no time left.

It was a textbook finish to a game that comes from a brand new textbook.

Price called it the biggest game of his career, the biggest game of his life. And now there is another one. Him and Henrik Lundqvist. Winner takes home the big prize.

But both prizes mean something.

Against Team USA, there was a certain pride from the Canadian players that was impressive, not just the win, but how they managed it. The speed with which they played. The spectacle that is the Olympics.

“It’s been a great challenge,” said Weber. “I know we enjoy playing these games and I’m sure the fans enjoy it, too.”

The lack of scoring has not come from a lack of scoring chances. At least not in the last few games. Against the Americans, Crosby set up Kunitz enough times to score at least three goals. Perry set up Benn for what should have been a goal. The line with Toews, Marleau and Jeff Carter played the cycle game and owned the puck.

It is the same game they must play to win gold. A game about team from some of hockey’s greatest individuals.

“We haven’t scored,” said Babcock, “and you know, no one seems to care.”